Sampal sa Rain English Version
by Lau-kun
Summary: English version of Sampal sa Rain. 17yearold Tomoyo trudges back home under bad weather. After a series of misfortune, a person with an innocent smile waltzes in to the rescue. Fluff ensues.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own CCS® or anything made by CLAMP. And by the way, I don't own the cast of Winnie the Pooh, especially Piglet and Eyor.

Feedbacks are welcome. Even cruel ones.

**Sampal sa Ulan (English Version)  
**By: Lau-kun

* * *

A drop of rain fell from the darkening horizons.

And as expected, it was followed by another and another and another, until it all fell down in countless coin-like masses of droplets—seemingly shedding tears for the lady who was running in the middle of the street.

Tomoyo was sprinting towards her house from Seijou High School, located near Tomoeda Elementary where she studied as a little girl. Gone were the days of the card captor, but she still hadn't given up the habit of filming her best friend from time to time.

Yup. She's got quite a collection of cute Sakura moments on video. And she would bet her fortunes that there would be lots of it now that Li-kun returned from Hong Kong. There would be even more capture-worthy scenes that will definitely make anybody—even her mother—squeal from all the fluffiness. Well anyway, even if her mother sees the video, there wouldn't be a problem because there hadn't been anyflaming cards,icebolts, unpredictable thunders and other magical mayhemon the loose even though Hiiragizawa-kun returned.

It really was a pity, but as long as there's Sakura and Li-kun for more video-capturing moments; her world in the realm of cinematography would always continue to roll around.

Unfortunately, Tomoyo thought that this wasn't exactly the right time to be thinking of anything like that. Why? Simply because, if her mother sees her looking like a damped chick (young chicken) in the middle of the street, she's sure as hell that she's not going to hear the end of her long lectures. But anyway, she's just really thankful that she had asked her bodyguards to keep her beloved camcorder earlier.

The young lady in Seijou High's uniform continued her mad dash even though her joints were already shaking. She wasn't really worried about her joints. Maybe part of the reason why she could care less about it was the thought of her mother's blazing eyes. Forget the cold. Her mother's wrath would be more than hell enough and it wouldn't be lovely after getting soaked up under the rain. She's sure that if she didn't continue her long sprint, she'll get into more trouble.

And as if she wasn't experiencing more trouble, thunder rumbled and lightning struck.

Tomoyo stopped, flinching from the deafening noise that sounded more like bowling bowls hitting a strike. It seemed as if St. Peter and the other saints decided to hold a bowling marathon up there.

It's not that she's scared of thunder and lightning. Nope. Not really. But if you put two and two together and realize the fact that the sky could conduct a frightening 10,000 volts of sudden atmospheric discharge of static electricity from an electrically charged area to another (in other words, stick a gun on your head and pull the trigger), and YOU'RE standing helplessly beneath it, what idiot wouldn't be scared of that, right?

She took three deep breaths then continued running.

What it all comes down to was, she just couldn't fathom the reason whyshe forget to bring her mobile phone that day, of all others that God created. Muttering profanities wouldn't make her condition any better so instead of muttering a decade's worth of it, she continued to sprint and sprint and sprint until she reached a juncture; only to experience the unexpected.

She flumped ungracefully on a puddle of mud.

"Ugh..." God Almighty. This was as worse as it was going to get.

Tomoyo tried to lever her self up from the clumsy fall and prayed hard to the deities up above to spare her dignity; or at least what was left of it. This was by far her worst day and the wound that she felt on her leg wasn't making anything any better.

She flinched as pain sliced through.

"Great..." She inspected the wound and thought of the worse. If her luck was down to a pitiful zero percent, then the mud around her leg would've had an infestation of certain microorganisms. Thankfully, it was only an abrasion on her iliotibial tract (outer part of her leg) so the worst thing that she may acquire on the long run would be infections of some sort. Nothing major.

Well, maybe exempting the fact that she couldn't run properly under this condition.

Tomoyo sighed, thinking that she must've done something really evil to deserve this cruelty. She pulled her white handkerchief out of her pocket (and mind you, it looked exactly like someone just stole it from a working washing machine) then proceeded to cleaning the wound. Maybe this was karma after all the times that she made Sakura-chan wear those frilly, ribbon-y and lace-infested costumes.

She pouted. Well, it WAS cute anyway.

"Daidouji," and someone had enough grace in him to pop out of thin air. "I think the rain is pouring too hard for you to walk around without an umbrella."

She found Hiiragizawa when she spun around. It was Hiiragizawa. With his smile. A smile that she oh-so-wanted to slam on a wall or on anything solid and hard it would crack his skull. Well anyway, she tried to smile. "I forgot my umbrella. I didn't expect the rain to come down today." So much for her dignity; she scratched her head and continued to mend her painful wound.

It's not that she's expecting her classmate to help her but she wished that he would just sod off and quit his lamppost act because honestly, he's not making her feel any better. She sighed again when he wouldn't budge after a few moments, "Do you still need anything, Hiiragizawa?" she asked.

"No," he answered. Tomoyo felt the urge to hurl him out of sight, "but I think you're in need of one." He smiled then pulled out his blue handkerchief. "Hold the umbrella for me." Hiiragizawa held out the umbrella towards the startled lady.

"W-What will you do?"

"Just hold the umbrella." Then there was something on Hiiragizawa's smile that made an invisible force of nature stuff something solid on Tomoyo's throat. It was making her nervous but she guessed Hiiragizawa wouldn't do something funny to her anyway so... "Here..." He pulled the lady's hand and settled the umbrella properly for her to hold. After that, he kneeled down—not caring if his expensive pants got wet—and started mending her wound.

Tomoyo's cheeks burned.

She was thinking about what kind of brain this monster has. Maybe, it's really in his personality to have a way with certain things, or maybe, he was just "amused" to witness a seventeen-year-old lady playing on a puddle of mud.

She frowned at the thought but stopped abruptly when she saw him smile.

But, honestly,the strange thing was, it was only then did she realize how awkward she felt, especially now that she could feel his warm hands getting in contact with her legs. It was unavoidable, she thought, but in her current position, she just couldn't stop her annoyingly perverted brain to—

Tomoyo mentally kicked herself. She didn't know that her _innocent _brain had thoughts running around like that.

"There..." he must've done something to her mental processes since she couldn't stop comparing his deep tenor-like voice to Josh Groban's. "I think your wound's alright by now although you still have to clean it properly." He tightened the knot to avoid loosening the temporary bandage—AKA his handkerchief—then stood up, smiling at Tomoyo. "You still have a long way to go so if you want, you can come to my apartment to freshen up."

"Thank—" she squeaked, then willed her self to recover immediately by faking a cough; not entirely trusting her vocal chords to do the job for her. "No. It's okay... Um... er..." she blushed when Hiiragizawa settled his trench coat around her shoulders.

"You'll have a hard time walking... perhaps I could carry you—" he was stopped by Tomoyo's aggressive head shaking, indicating no, no and no. It was either that or he noticed how her face turned scarlet.

"N-No... um... no... because... I-it's okay... er..." why oh why did God Almighty turned a deaf-ear to her pleas of sparing what's left of her dignity?

The smile on Hiiragizawa's face stretched.

* * *

"I hope this would do..." Hiiragizawa went out of his guardians' room with a smile; carrying with him a towel, an oversized sweatshirt and a pair of really _short _shorts. "This was all that I could find in Nakuru's cabinet." Tomoyo's eyebrow quirked as he handed the clothes to her; on the other hand, the smile on the young man's lips didn't waver, "They went out to visit Sakura today..." there goes his killer smile again. Tomoyo inwardly frowned and accepted the clothes and towel, forcing to condition herself to at least smile at the man who had been constantly making her nervous for the past hour. 

"Thank you, Hiiragizawa-kun." She said, looking around to find a place to change. Hiiragizawa took that as a cue and pointed the way towards the shower room.

"You're welcome..." all the while, the smile never left his face.

By the time that she entered the shower room, Tomoyo felt her heart pound madly against her rib cage. She couldn't get the reason why her traitorous heart would suddenly palpate abnormally, and if she wasn't mistaken, she would even suffer from seizures this instant. For the past three years that Hiiragizawa—including his one year stay when they were still in elementary—had spent sitting right behind her, she didn't feel anything beyond normal. She didn't feel any sledgehammer beating her chest, no butterflies in her stomach according to her x-ray exams, no pack of wolves hurrying after her whenever her heart runs an acre; and, the last time she checked, her circulatory system was fine even though whenever he comes around, her cheeks starts to burn. It wasn't classified asheart burn but circulatory system was connected with the heart so she had that checked too. The problem: it WAS as normal as an average adult's cardiac rate of 60 beats per minute.

She really didn't have a clue. Now, all that she really wanted to do was to go home and rest. Anyway, she's quite sure that this madness will come to pass by the time that tomorrow comes.

When she got out of the shower room, a smiling young man with mugs of hot chocolate met her, "You should drink this to warm yourself a little." Smile. She's getting really pissed off at her latest discovery that the moron was actually quite cute. Truth be told, she's beginning to think that Hiiragizawa was getting weirder _nowadays _after all those times that he almost tortured her best friend for the sake of transforming the Clow Cards. If that was so, why was he acting like he's Mr. Good Samaritan or something right now? That was something unearthly. But, as she often told herself, and based on her observations ages ago (in elementary), Hiiragizawa was really a kind person—one friggin' hell of an overly cute and kind person, disregarding Li-kun's descriptions of course.

Well, alright, the times that he tortures Li with his teasing wasn't counted but he's still kind.

She stopped herself in time before she flushed. Okay, so what? Why make a fuss over such trivial things, right? Almost all of the female population in Seijou High School worships the shadow of that monster so, she guessed it was just okay if she appreciated the gift that God gave him right? Still, she wondered, why hadn't she noticed the beautiful shade of blue in Eriol's eyes before? Why, only now, did she noticed his evenly toned biceps that developed over the years that he let himself grow from a simple twelve-year-old bespectacled boy from England to a charming, gentleman of seventeen with a killer smile and everything?

"Daidouji?" she snapped out of it when she noticed Hiiragizawa's questioning stares. Damn it. She shouldn't daydream at a time like this! They're friends for goodness' sake! What would he say when he finds out that the lady whom he just saved from a puddle of mud hours ago had conjured up feelings for him?

Well, okay, fine. Guilty as charged. She had a crush on Eriol but it stops there; wandering over something more than that would be pointless. And then she finds herself pondering on that thought for a while... was that really it? Seriously, if that was the case then, why could she recall Rika and Chiharu mentioning something about her acting all funny around Hiiragizawa?

No, it must be the workings of their imaginations...

And she would've convinced herself otherwise if it weren't for the fluttering butterflies playing around her stomach again. "Thank you, Hiiragizawa-kun." If Tomoyo started to count, she was quite sure that she had already asked the intercession of all the saints she knew from Religious Education in kinder up to no end. She picked up the mug of hot chocolate and drank its contents. After a while, she noticed the drawing on the mug that Eriol had been using, "Piglet?" Tomoyo blinked and interrogatingly stared at her companion. It wasn't like him to own something pink and, well, pink—with the exception of Nakuru-chan, she supposed.

Eriol flashed another brilliant smile. "This belongs to Ruby Moon. She's very fond of Winnie the Pooh characters that's why she begged me to buy it." He pointed at the mug that Tomoyo was using, "Including the one you're using..."

"Does this belong to Nakuru?" she couldn't stop herself from blinking at the mug with the normally gloomy face of Eyor.

She saw him shake his head. "No."

"Who owns this mug then?" she interrogated.

Eriol's smile widened. And there it goes again, the continuous blag-blag sound of a battering ram inside Tomoyo's chest.

"It's mine..."

She _really _had to ask.

"Oh... I'm sorry." A chagrin look crossed her features.

"It's okay..." Answered the young man before drinking the chocolate in his mug.

Silence ensued afterwards. Although Tomoyo might consider it an awkward silence, she couldn't, for the life of it put an adjective to describe their... silence. It was just silence. Nevertheless, she wanted it eradicated this instant if only she knew exactly what to say. She wished that her brain would offer her something, like the weather's nice, which was dumb considering the fact that she just slumped on mud about an hour ago so now, due to her nervousness, she felt like all ideas had already been ran-over and squished by a ten-wheeler truck. Plus, she was also at a loss due to her molested dignity for the day. That's why when she knew it was hopeless to squeeze something out from her overworked brain cells, Tomoyo scanned the place until it landed upon a telephone. Her face brightened and a real smile appeared on her lips. "Hiiragizawa-kun, can I use the phone to call my mother?" She placed the mug of chocolate on the table. "Mom easily panics so I really have to inform her of my whereabouts." Her face twisted sincerely at a thought, "Before she calls the military.

Eriol nodded. "We don't want that to happen now, do we?" he smiled cheerfully, "Go ahead..."

* * *

An hour and thirty minuteswoth of explanation later, which was, as Tomoyo described it, equivalent to the narration of her life as the daughter of the richest businesswoman in Tomoeda, Tomoyo finally replaced the handset of the phone and abruptly turned her attention towards Eriol. "Everything's fine now..." She smilingly said when she noticed that the smile that Eriol had been giving her was beyond anything but normal in all walks of life—for her, at least. Tomoyo blinked again in confusion. 

"What did she say?" Instantly, the smile that Tomoyo witnessed vanished, making her think that it was only her imagination playing tricks on her.

"It would take time because—"

It looks like somebody managed a strike from their bowling marathon. Thunder rumbled and lightning struck; harder this time and from the looks of things, water works were everywhere, as proven by the exaggeratingly strong wind and rain, pounding on the windows of houses.

"The rain is really pouring out there..." Tomoyo stopped and stared helplessly at the blurred view from the window. Totally left without a choice, she sighed and looked up at her companion. "I hope I'm not disturbing you..."

"Don't worry about it..." He walked towards his Throne of Evil™ and sat comfortably; snapping his fingers to light a fire on the hearth.

Tomoyo nodded and inhaled deeply. Honestly, she was really thinking of what to say because from their course of verbal communication—pleasantries of how do you do, how are you, good morning or basically, anything just to have something to say to the other—she easily runs out of topics to talk about with him. It suddenly made her think: Is Eriol thinking of the same thing? Maybe... she's not sure... she won't find out until he says something.

Eriol is really like that. He won't speak unless needed. It's really frustrating for Tomoyo's part but if Eriol's mysterious personality vanishes, then it wouldn't feel like he's really Eriol at all. That's part of his overall personality and come to think of it, he's the reincarnated version of THE once most powerful person in the whole world. The thought is kind of scary but she knew that Eriol was really a kind person and Tomoyo couldn't help herself but to feel safe under his roof.

Still, Tomoyo thought that she had scores to settle with him—a debt that she needs to repay. She smiled. Alright, it seems like they already have something to talk about after decades of waiting. "... Hiiragizawa..." when she called him, the mage looked over at the chorus girl. "Thank you very much for your help a while ago..." she smiled; her actions being mirrored by the young man on the high back chair, "If there's anything that you want or need, just ask me, okay?"

He arched an eyebrow, "Anything?" The smirk that he had been concealing emerged from behind the mask.

She knew it...

She stammered from the reaction that she received from him, "Anything on my power...?" she tried. Despite the nervousness bubbling up on her chest, the smile on Tomoyo's face never wavered for a second; except that she looked more like she just drank vinegar. He wouldn't ask for their company, wouldn't he? Or he wouldn't ask her to help him kill somebody, right? She doesn't think so. Come to think of it, she knew Eriol could handle the killing by himself; or maybe—she hmphed. Only God knows the answer.

Tomoyo saw Eriol leave his chair to stand in front of Tomoyo; obviously thinking very hard while his eyes were intently focused on his apartment's ceiling as if all the answers were there, "Hmm..." he remained like that for a couple of seconds and then, suddenly sat beside the lady—still deep in his thoughts, "What can I ask for...?"

_This moron's really taking it seriously, _thought Tomoyo as she stared at her thoughtful classmate. "Do you have anything in mind at this moment?"

Eriol remained quiet for a few seconds more then he stood up again and sighed, "Of course..." a gentle smile was carved on his lips; "Only an idiot would refuse such an offer like that now, don't you agree?" His blue eyes twinkled as he perched his hips lightly on the couch's back. "Are you sure about your proposition of anything within your power, Daidouji?"

She nodded determinedly...

"Okay then." Eriol immediately bent his head down and left one light kiss on her cheek.

She blinked; face burning as she stared at Eriol who was at the moment, looking like a helpless little boy, waiting for his punishment; a slap perhaps? She blinked once more and thanked God that there's nobody else present to witness the beet-red face of Tomoyo Daidouji.

"Er..." he cleared his throat, "Before you slap me, I just want you to know two things..." Eriol jumped from where he was sitting and kneeled in front of Tomoyo; his hands clasping her own gently. "First, I came back to Tomoeda not only because I missed torturing my cute little descendant." He smiled hesitantly; dropping a swift kiss on Tomoyo's hand with a lightness that can send sparks flying up high in the air, "I came back for you, Tomoyo."

Her jaws went slack. She was already half to gaping at everything that Eriol was saying and if the timing couldn't be more in tune with the atmosphere—she didn't exactly know if it was or wasn't—the lights went dead; leaving the hearth as their only source of light and warmth. Circumstances dictated though, that neither thought it was the most important matter at hand. She didn't know what happened but in a blink of an eye, she was surprised at the sudden curveball that overtook her life.

Yeah, one painful curve that caused her a wound on the leg.

Hours ago, she was just running around the streets of Tomoeda—comparable to a damped young chicken, lonely, hopeless, robbed off her dignity and ungracefully flumped on a puddle of mud—a total mess to make it short; but now, here she was... completely clueless of what to do with her handsome classmate.

"What's number two?" she settled for something lighter at least, giving up the guessing game running through her mind. Why not ask his unfathomable motives and spare her poor brain from severe internal hemorrhage? Tomoyo understood him but sometimes, Eriol could really be a hopeless nutcase.

"And second..." he closed his deep pools of sapphires; "I want you to forgive me for what I'm about to do."

"What—?"

He kissed her, full on the lips.

In the first stages of shock, Tomoyo didn't exactly know what to do because (a) this was her first kiss; (b) she was utterly shocked; (c) she didn't expect that Eriol would do that to her, and (d) after finding out that she had fallen for the guy, somewhere between those three years, would she still have the heart to slap him?

Perhaps, she's just overly inexperienced when it comes to issues concerning love. Although it was a fact that she's good at most things like singing, academics, painting and, not to mention, she's gorgeous and everything else, she didn't have enough time to practice on that particular field. It was no wonder that the two of them were always being paired up at school and maybe somewhere in the process; she had harnessed feelings for him. And denying that fact would be denying that birds fly, fishes swim and humans walk.

Sorry to say to all the girls who stalked and faun over Eriol, but somebody had claimed rights over him already. Bleh.

A small smile strayed on her lips; and the next thing that Eriol could make out from his dazed state were a pair of arms, encircling his neck together with a silent answer to his silent message.

_A slap on the rain, dear... You can just forget it._

In the end, they lay on the couch and waited for the storm to pass, trapped in the arms of the other while engaging in a, should we say, physically "verbal" type of communication?

Owari

* * *

_End Note: READ THE PINOY VERSION IF YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE.. _

**A/N: **Erk—(cough, cough, cough)... I'm bad at translations. But anyway... I forgot to mention that I did this while studying anatomy and physiology, and then upon editing, I wanted to recall certain stuffs in micro-para so don't ask why there are technical terms in there. It's easy to understand anyway... I typed in context clues to indicate their meanings.


End file.
